>> "inside washington" is brought to you by the american federation of government employees. for information about the membership, membershipafge.org. >> production assistance provided by albritton communications and politico. >> the united states condemns in the strongest terms of the outrageous and shocking attack. >> this week, four americans die as anti-american violence

spreads. >> an apology for america's values is never the right course. >> also, the ramifications of the chicago teachers strike. >> this is a strike of choice, the wrong choice. >> challenging the new voter ideologue. >> it is a criminal offense against democracy. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> four americans are dead. the american consulate in libya. suddenly, the president to campaign is no longer about the autonomy but not the way this president is conducting foreign policy. >> the administration was wrong standing by a statement sympathizing for those who have

members -- have embraced our embassy. >> it governor romney has a tendency to shoot first and came later. as president, you cannot do that. >> the american embassy said they condemn the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of moslems. -- of muslims. at 10:15 a.m., a group gathered outside of the cairo embassy. they scaled a wall and pulled down the american flag. at 4:00 p.m. eastern time, a gunman attacked the american consulate in benghazi resulting in including the ambassador, christopher stevens. >> this should shock people of all faiths around the world. >> at 10:09 p.m. our time, romney issued a statement saying

it it was disgraceful the obama 's administration what -- not was to condemn attacks but sympathize with those who made the attacks. they quoted the obama administration saying the statement was not cleared by washington and does not reflect the views of the united states government. jack tapper recorded the same statement on abc news. they said romney's political faux pas was to hurt the pundit class without thinking seriously about the problems for american in the world. do you believe that? >> no. this is all more rum -- war room bluster. you have to attack. something happens and you attack right away. it's mindless. i do not think it will stick. >> earlier in the week, you said

you would have told him to go and help. any second thoughts? >> no second thoughts. i believe the time when you gave completely vindicates what romney did. you said the statement was issued in the afternoon. they were silent about it. now with the drop, nothing, until romney said it was a disgrace, which it was. then all of a sudden the state department said it was not authorized. that was the only statement coming out of this administration. the u.s. embassy speaks on behalf of the u.s. government. the administration said nothing. it was entirely vindicated. >> colby, your thoughts on this? >> my first reaction is to say protection of the embassy is ultimately the responsibility of the host government.

that is established by treaty. i remember how they breached the walls. having seen that in the past, we had many, many security people there, as well as soldiers. >> and there are a lot more in libya. >> probably in tripoli. yup the worry about the people inside the embassy. this timeline, what romney did and fail to do, that is a political matter. it the statement issued was criticizing the actions of the embassy, make the statement he made that the embassy was really talking about the provocation.

there was just no time. >> "the parsons of the press corps but were offended by this debate." i get the sense that they are actually delighted by this. >> he was damaged by it in part because the way characterized the first message from the embassy, the administration and other people read it differently. they issued that in hopes of avoiding a protest. in alerting the egyptian people that the government did not embrace this offensive movie. what they're trying to do was ward off trouble. that's not an apology for american values. no matter what the initial intentions were of anyone, once

an american -- four americans -- were killed, that is time to cut the politics out. obviously republicans and democrats have different foreign-policy views. nothing wrong with that. that's a perfectly legitimate debate. when americans have been killed, america pulls together. when it comes to public damage that romney did to himself, that is where the real mistake was made. >> americans were dying in the iraq war and as all of a sudden piety that we cannot have a discussion about american policy, it's ridiculous. this is a story created by the media. as the state department itself implied in withdrawing the statement, not only is it a humiliation and embarrassment to apologize, it does not work. >> he was never apologizing.

that was just rhetoric. he never said it was an apology. he never said that word. >> dissolving is nonsense. a junior press officer at the embassy wanted to say something nice to the muslims. some press guy, not the secretary of state or the president. then you have these war rooms with this instant reaction, rapid-fire. they just fire off, just shoot off. romney came in and blasted away. it puts him in a position -- >> the embassy issued a statement. who cares to put it out? they view this as the only statement. >> it was not an apology. it was issued in anticipation of the reaction to that film.

it took a clear position that affected the u.s. the announcing that kind of activity respecting the views about the lethal -- the views about the people of a particular religious faith. >> out of that sensitivity work out? >> it does not mean they should not have tried. >> you do not have the government of the united states trying to appease a mob. >> we've got to take a break. >> of the mob was on it's way. [laughter] >> that's of the last word. >> what we will bring their killers to justice. >> the administration is sending mixed signals to those who attacked our embassy in egypt and those in the world. >> "the wall street journal"

says the u.s. is perceived as a declining power. as the perception spreads, the world's bad actors are asserting themselves to fill a vacuum unless the trend is reversed. those moms in the middle east and a declining power. do you agree? >> they were responding to what they saw as an insult to the prophet mohammad. perhaps this happened in libya, on doingve were bent exactly what they did. there is some evidence that it was planned. we have to get all the facts right. this has been really confusing. we did not know if the

ambassador was actually killed. then you hear that they actually got in the consulate. this is what happens. do not just shoot from the hip because you feel a certain way in your gut. >> there is a danger to global reaction. there was an interesting column in "the washington post" st. there are these mobs who are quick to jump and then their rival radical groups like to exploit the situation and that is a threat to the egyptian and libyan regime. if mr. the pot to much, it will hurt their regimes. >> what is our relationship with the givebacks the president said there were not an ally. >> it's not great. with a better chance of working with the muslim brotherhood. >> i think that was a mistake for the president to say that. i think you tried to put some distance in there, but that's

wrong. we better have a relationship with them. we have put billions of dollars in egypt. how can you not call that an alliance? >> you call it a work in progress. we do have an established relationship. it is a work in progress in us getting to know who the new leadership is. we still send them billions of dollars a year. that is a real relationship that we have. >> not since its birth six decades ago has this been cast adrift. netanyahu once a red light in iran. -- wants a red line. >> if you look at what is happening, there's nothing happening that would give any confidence to anyone that there is any slowing of the iranian program. the iaea reported a few weeks

ago that the program is not slowing but accelerating. the iranians have doubled the number of centrifuges in the facility in the mountains. in negotiations we spoke about this year, the ones in baghdad, istanbul, they completely collapsed despite the fact we were willing to make concessions to allow one richmond. the idea that iran is isolated? two weeks ago, 120 nations showed up, so every element of the argument by obama has been shown not to work. the israelis know within months they will not have any capacity to actually attack the program. that is why it is reacting. tell us that if we do not act, you will. if you don't, we have to. >> the death of the ambassador

is serious. this is a classic lose-lose situation. if israel attacks iran or the u.s. does, there will be bad consequences. if we allow iran to build a bomb, that will also be really bad consequences. either way, the united states loses. >> lose-lose, colby? >> the president had declined to meet with prime minister netanyahu. one of the statements made by the press is that you could say this about u.s.-israel relationships. this thing has hit rock bottom. take this out a presidential politics. the israelis are in a really bad

plays. it is a bad neighborhood with a bad neighbor. it is inevitable that they will have to do something about that regime. it is a question of timing. something will have to happen because i ran as a threat. >> let me say a word about relationship between israel and the united states. last july, they told wolff led to the president obama has done more for the security of israel than anyone remembers in the past. >> it's clear that netanyahu does not agree with that. it is hard to think back to a presidential campaign in which a foreign figure has inserted themselves so obviously into a presidential campaign. meeting with romney in israel, essentially endorsing him. we have had reports of wealthy

jewish politically active people going to visit in israel and netanyahu saying bad things about the president. he is really a character, at least in terms of foreign affairs, in the race. what that means, we will see. whether that is good or bad, they can fight more about it. it is something that is rare for us to see. london, that's a character we pay attention to politically. this is really unusual. >> let me say this. i do not think prime minister netanyahu is in raising his political campaign. one year after the election, we will still have this going on. what is at stake point of view a threat from iran that they have

nuclear weapons. you have to take the position we are taking now or one year from now, two years from now. there may be a question of which american president would be more forceful, but it is not a question of whether they are injecting themselves in the campaign. romney went to israel and he was well received. >> obama went to israel as a candidate in 2008. he did what every candid it does. they're not the ones who invented the calendar. it was established. there was no israel. this can happen in one year from now. the problem is the calendar and the clock. they're putting all of their stock under a mountain.

once it is all in there, it can never be attack than they can never be stopped from becoming a nuclear power. >> he can delay it, but you cannot eliminate it. then that's all you have, you delay. you hope either, in the and there will be a revolution and the government will change or even in india. they do not have nightmares. it is the regime. they live up from year to year, day to day. >> how much will the american people tolerate? iraq, iran. has he drawn his own redline? he wants the president to draw one. >> essentially, he did. it was said by the defense minister, of the point in which the iranian program is so hard and that our equipment will no

longer had it, that is when israel will hit. he said that publicly. >> in the debate, will romney called on israel? >> nobody calls on anyone to attack. you give a red light, a yellow light, or a green light. it is clear that obama has given a red light. >> what light is romney? >> at the yellow light would say that we cannot and will not attack iran and therefore we will allow you to do with you need to do to defend yourself if you think attacking is right. we will not order them to attack. >> as the chicago school strike have ramifications for our president in the election. >> i told my could not make it in today because i did not have child care. i had no word summit file today. >> they're complaining about

what it is costing them. 350,000 kids not in school. it is about grading the teachers. they do not like that. mayor rahm emmanuel is butting heads with them. he was chief of staff in the obama administration. will this have ramifications for the presidential election? >> this is a fight between the mayor and his teachers unions. >> 23 other states are debating the same stuff. >> that's a bigger issue. i think the reforms that you look out that they're doing in chicago, they're cutting edge. it is butting up against the way things have been done for a long time. it is not just from emmanuel, but there are lots of experiments being done to try to improve schools. in d.c., we have a big fight about similar issues. the administration is supportive of many of those types of

experiments. the education department has encouraged it in many ways for the same reason, just trying to get our education system back up and moving in a direction in which it the kids have the skills that they need for the new kind of jobs that are out there. short-term, know it will not affect as president. >> this is huge. politically, it's huge because the teachers unions historically have helped democrats get elected. obama is putting at risk his support from the teachers' union. if this strike goes on and you really have to take a position on that, he would risk losing a lot of unions. rahm emmanuel is a hero on this. it is a joke that they have a very short school year that they need to get in the real world on that. he took a huge risk in doing it. >> is this about teacher

qualifications? the union says it's not. >> it is also about teacher ability. you tried really accountability -- to try to bring in accountability. it's inevitable. there are some things you have to take on. look at the performance of the school system. it is a school system that is run by arne duncan. he was in charge of that school system. >> chicago teachers make $76,000 per year. but the average earner in chicago earns $47,000 per year. you get people earning x amount paying teachers who make 50% more and who were offered a 16% increase in salary and yet went on strike precisely because they

do not want to be held accountable. i think rahm is right. and i hope he clenches this by sending the head of the teachers' union a dead fish. that often works in situations like this. >> we're here for one thing -- to let the governor and republican legislators know that the voter i.d. is wrong, based on a lie. >> president of the philadelphia naacp. the supreme court of pennsylvania hearing arguments against the new voter i.d. law. registered pennsylvania laws -- voters do not qualify under this law. what does this mean? >> it's hard to tell. in pennsylvania, unlike some of the other states have issued these things, that is a big swath of people.

they are pretty diverse. you go from urban people who do not have this idea to seniors. it catches people who traditionally vote republican and those who traditionally vote democratic. id to drive ann airplane, so on, so forth. >> in texas, they have a similar law. it requires people to buy their identification. in some cases, it is economically hard on some people. the fact that the head of the republican party in pennsylvania shared this saying that it would take certain voters out of the polls, that tells us right there that they think it will be good for them. >> these laws are written by

republicans to suppress voter turnout. >> is that what it's about? >> a look at the indiana law in 2008, the opinion 6-3 written by john paul stevens saying it is absolutely constitutional and there was no reason why it should not be enforced and it was upheld, as will the other laws. what the voting record right now is not so good. >> it's the other guys bring in a ringer or a dead man, you have lost your vote. >> it has a disparate impact. >> finally, bradly birkenfield was offered money by exposing how the swiss bank ubs showed

how people were hiding their money. he is currently residing in a new hampshire halfway house after doing more than one year in a federal lockup for his role. he will be punished for his sins because you have to pay taxes on the $104 million as regular income. he gets the last word. thank you. we will see you next week. >> for the transcript, log onto insidewashington.tv. >> "inside washington" the dot is brought to you by the american federation of government employees. for membership information, visit afge.org.